Table 2 Ethical considerations

Responsible planning

Promotes greater coherence, continuity, and predictability; can contribute to minimizing harms and create opportunities to apply lessons learned in other settings.

Collaboration

Demonstrates respect for partners and other stakeholders; upholds the dignity and agency of local communities; can lead to the identification of potential harms.

Adaptability

Enables responsiveness to the particularities of the situation, including where groups are experiencing increased vulnerability.

Transparency

Promotes the agency of stakeholders and demonstrates respect; is a precondition for accountability by clarifying processes to be followed.

Minimize harms

Encompasses vigilance for how closure processes will impact communities, project staff and partner organizations, and striving to minimize or avoid harms where possible.

Sustainability

Promotes the possibility of long-term benefits for local communities, including ongoing access to quality services.

Fairness

Attends to concerns of justice in how resources are allocated, as well as how burdens, harms, and benefits are distributed during and after project closure.